Greater Toronto Services Board was created in 1998 under the Greater Toronto Services Act by the province of Ontario and began sessions in 1999. It was created following the amalgamation of the City of Toronto. In some ways it was seen as a replacement for Metro Toronto Council and regional councils around Toronto. With the lack of real political power, the GTSB ceased to exist in 2001. The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was the name of the highest level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario area from 1954 to 1997. ...

Board

The GTSB comprised of local politicans appointed by their respective councils:

• Mayor of Toronto
• 10 Toronto City Councillors
• city councillor of the City of Mississauga (and also a member of Peel Region Council)
• Mayor of Hamilton

York Region was later added as a member of the GTSB.

Members of GTSB include:

• Alan Tonks 1999-2000 - Chair
• Gordon Chong 2001 - Chair
• Mel Lastman - member
• Hazel McCallion - member
• William Bell - member and former mayor of Richmond Hill
• Mario Silva - member, former Toronto city councillor and and Liberal MP for Davenport

Alan Tonks (born April 2, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian politician, and was the final Metro Toronto Chairman before the amalgamation of Metro Toronto into the new City of Toronto. ... Gordon Joseph Chong has served as a City of Toronto Councillor and was Vice-Chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission. ... Official Photograph of Mel Lastman Melvin Douglas (Mel) Lastman (born March 9, 1933) was the mayor of the former city of North York, Ontario, Canada from 1972 until 1997. ... Mayor McCallion was named as a sponsor for a World Vision Canada charity campaign Hazels Hope, fighting AIDS in Africa. ... William E. Bell is a Canadian childrens author who lives in Orillia, Ontario. ...

Powers

The GTSB had power to deal with school taxes, but the only real power was the operation and financial responsibility for GO Transit. GO Transit, officially known as the Greater Toronto Transit Authority (GTTA), is Canadas first, and Ontarios only, interregional public transit system, established to link Toronto with the surrounding regions of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). ...

References

• Greater Toronto Services Act 1998
• Developing Framework for a Greater Toronto Service Board
• GTSB Submission to the Canada Transportation Act Review
• Provincial act creating GTSB, 1998